Pat Shurmur makes strong pitch to continue as Eagles head coach

Philadelphia Eagles interim head coach Pat Shurmur watches from the sidelines during Sunday's victory over the New York Giants in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) (Kathy Willens / AP)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Pat Shurmur likely will get a chance soon to sit down with the committee Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has formed to select the next head coach and make his pitch for the job.

His overwhelming opening statement came Sunday at MetLife Stadium, however.

Advertisement

The interim head coach, who had been the offensive coordinator until being elevated to replace the fired Chip Kelly on Tuesday, called a better game in a 35-30 victory over the New York Giants than Kelly had in more than a year, and produced better offensive results than Kelly ever did with this same limited weaponry.

Running an offense designed and installed by Kelly, Shurmur displayed a better feel for what plays to call at what time.

The offense scored four touchdowns (with the defense supplying the other) but should have had more. Wide receiver Jordan Matthews dropped what probably would have been a touchdown pass down the left sideline when he let a perfect bomb by Bradford go right through his hands in the first quarter.

So he had only himself to blame for finishing the game with only 54 receiving yards and missing the 1,000-yard plateau for the season by only 3 yards.

Of course this was just one game against a flawed Giants defense and a team that believed it was in the same predicament as the Eagles coming in, facing the prospect of a new head coach next season. And it only was Shurmur's 10th career win against 23 losses that came during an undistinguished run in Cleveland in 2011 and 2012.

But everybody who ever coaches the Browns has an undistinguished run. That even includes Bill Belichick, who actually coached the more accomplished organization that became the Baltimore Ravens, not the expansion franchise that came after the original Browns were kidnapped from Cleveland by Art Modell.

"I think the guys were very focused," Shurmur said. "There really wasn't much different to our plan than when Coach Kelly was here. We just kind of utilized some of our plays in a little bit different way. I thought the guys were focused, and aside from the one fumble and then the one [tipped] interception, I thought we played a pretty error-free game on offense."

Shurmur did more than just mix up the plays more effectively. He slowed the pace at times, allowing for more audibles than Bradford was able to call under Kelly's rule.

"The one thing that's important is that we have a quarterback that's extremely smart," Shurmur said. "We trust him, and so you don't have to be a play behind with Sam, because he can get you in the right stuff."

"Yeah, I would say that there were a couple of times today, probably more than in the past, that we did change things at the line of scrimmage," Bradford added. "I think sometimes it gets us into a better play. It allows us to have the opportunity for a more explosive or more successful play than if we were just to run what had originally been called.

"I think it helped. I think we got into a rhythm there, especially on the one drive in the fourth quarter. I think it eliminated a lot of the negative plays that you'd seen all year. For the most part, today we were getting the right plays called against the right looks. I think that's why we were able to be more consistent and more efficient today."

For four quarters on Sunday, Shurmur made a similar statement with his game management about continuing as head coach, then confirmed it verbally afterward.

"I've been here now for 13 years under two different regimes," he said. "I told the players last night that I probably learned more in the last three years than I've learned in any stretch of my coaching career.

"I saw [Giants defensive coordinator and former Rams head coach] Steve Spagnuolo on the field; we gave each other a hug and the one thing I told him is I said, 'I wish I'd known some of this stuff when I worked for you.'"